A Laser Sensor Newly Developed To Fight Against Fake Oil

Researchers have created a laser sensor to detect fake olive oil with labels of “extra virgin” or “origin protected”. As referred in Talanta journal, this sensor can compare the differences between oils which look similar to each other but have different quality.

Researchers working at the US's Scintillon Institute and the Spanish Complutense University of Madrid used laser diodes to realize that the fluorescence which adulterated oils emit is not as completely same as that emitted by pure extra olive oils. And the tool designed based on 3d-printing technology is not expensive to produce and use.

A UCM’s senior lecturer, Jose S Torrecilla, also talked about other obvious benefits of their tool such as allowing the analyses on site because it is designed with the same size as a briefcase. With this tool, researchers hope that the industry of olive oil can handle the issue that has made the great losses to the economy. The quality of olive oil is confirmed in the domestic and international markets. Therefore, there will be a need to protect the quality, as well as to fight against the fraudulent behaviors which are conducted with increasingly sophisticated tricks.

Torrecilla gave an example of a fraud behavior via making the mixture of the natural olive oil and cheaper, low-quality olive oil or other kinds of plant oil. Of which, single-varietal origin oils with the protected designation were mixed with other origin oils. These oils all were available at many stores in shopping malls.

And then, they made mixtures from oils with the acidity of 1-17 percent. One notable thing was that these oils were already expired. The researchers conducted measurements thanks to the advanced 3D-printed sensor and analyzed the collected results through chaotic algorithms.

The laser sensor is highly appreciated due to its convenience. Oils are only required before packaging to serve the quality control and after packaging to identify fake producers or brands. The researchers added.